


The Carp That Got Away

by faradheia



Category: Saiyuki Gaiden
Genre: Family Bonding, Fishing, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Picnics, Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:26:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27979572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faradheia/pseuds/faradheia
Summary: Kenren hijacks everyone for a day out of the Palace.
Relationships: Kenren Taishou & Tenpou Gensui, Konzen Douji & Son Goku
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	The Carp That Got Away

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DigitalMeowMix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DigitalMeowMix/gifts).



> To my Yuletide recipient, thank you for the ideas! I used your suggestions as a springboard for some found family fluff. This went a whole lot longer than I intended but you know Kenren and Goku - talkers. I really enjoyed getting back into Saiyuki again and really enjoyed my rewatch of the pertinent episodes....for research purposes. Thanks and I hope you enjoy!!!

It was midmorning when Kenren looked around Tenpou’s disaster of an office/library – again, and sighed. It would be nice if some of Konzen’s fanatic neatness rubbed off, transferred over or was magicked onto his partner, but no. Still, he loved Tenpou anyway.

“Tenpou?!” he shouted. “TENPOU!” Kenren wandered into the shelves just to make sure his friend wasn’t sitting on the floor lost in a book – again. “Tenpou, we’re going out!” He was relieved to find the office empty and just why did he have such a damned big office anyway? Sure, Tenpou was the Field Marshal of Heaven’s Western Army but, seriously. Having neatened Tenpou’s desk multiple times, Kenren can say, with reasonable certainty, that there weren’t any relevant work documents anywhere in there. This assumes Tenpou had another more official office but fuck all if Kenren knew where it was, and he’d figured that as a General in the army he should have seen it at least once.

Kenren grumbled to himself as he left the room. As he stood in the corridor, he scanned both ways and made a snap decision as he headed off. Konzen’s office wasn’t in this wing of the Palace complex and since his favorite distraction was missing, his second and third favorite will have to do; he was taking people out of this building today.

Striding around the corner, he nearly collided with Tenpou coming the other direction. “A-ha!! There you are!”

Tenpou looked confused with a side of sheepish. “Um yes? Here I am. You were looking for me?”

“Yes. Are you busy? Well, now you’re not,” running right over Tenpou’s answer. “Come on – we’re going to the kitchens for food and then we’re getting the Monkey and the fussy pain-in-the-butt and going fishing. I know the perfect spot.” He draped his arm over his partner’s shoulders and towed him down the hall, ignoring the sputtering about readings or research or paperwork that came from his hostage.

A few minutes later with Tenpou, who now seemed resigned to his fate and was looking around with interest as he had apparently never been down these back corridors, Kenren came to one of the staff entrances to the kitchen area.

“How….?” Tenpou started.

“Oh, I’m friendly with some of the lovely, lovely staff here. In fact...” Kenren waved to an attractive woman stacking plates, who quickly came over. “Tenpou, this is the very talented Meirin. Meirin, the Field Marshal Tenpou. We’d like to get a basket and food for what …eight?” He glanced at Tenpou.

Tenpou chuckled, “Yes eight sounds like it’s about right for the three of us and Goku.” In a few minutes Meirin had packed a huge basket, thermoses and wrapped assorted other things in a tablecloth. Kenren bowed over her hand and left a few silver pieces on a table. He waved at the rest the staff and hustled Tenpou and their haul out the door. 

They set a determined pace to Konzen’s office and could soon hear Goku’s voice drifting down the hall with his usual cheerful chatter. Kenren and Tenpou came to a stop in the office doorway just as Konzen lifted a writing brush over his head to throw in frustration. He froze at their sudden appearance. “And just what do you two want?” he growled. 

“Kenren!! Tempi!!!!” Goku jumped up from his pile of papers and ran over to them. “HI! How are you? Whatcha doing here? Is that a basket? Do you have food?”

Tenpou put a hand on Goku’s head to stop the stream. “Yes it’s a basket of food because we are all going out. Kenren has something fun planned for us today and we came to get you.”

“What the hell?” Konzen growled again. “Can’t you idiots see I’m working here? Or trying to work?” He shook his long blond bangs back. “You can take the Monkey though.”

“Nope,” Kenren strode over to Konzen’s desk, coat flaring dramatically, and grabbed the man by the upper arm. “Nope, nope, nope, nope. We are going out. We are seeing the sun. We are going fishing and we are going to relax and goof off.” Kenren grabbed the brush from the protesting blonde, tossed it on the desk, completely unconcerned if he left ink marks on any of the papers there. He ignored the cursing and threats as he dragged the man out the door.

Goku added to the din with loud cheering and chanting about fishing so that Kenren could only barely hear Tenpou as he dragged Konzen past, “Always so lively and energetic! Come on Goku, let’s go!”

“Dammit Kenren! I have work! Lots of work! Important work! Just take the Monkey and go! I have reports you…” Kenren jostled Konzen a little harder right then, interrupting his rant. 

“Ah ah ah – remember impressionable ears are right here behind you.” He changed his grip from an arm grab to being slung over the blonde’s back gripping the opposite shoulder firmly to continue to propel him along. “Also it’s good for your skin to feel a little sun. Exercise! Smell the flowers! Relax! I know you’ve heard the word.” 

He steered the man out the closest palace door and down the steps. Kenren glanced back to see that Tenpou had given the basket to Goku to carry  for a few minutes , better than giving him the breakable plates bag but still – Kenren winced internally and hoped things were packed securely. Goku was peppering Tenpou with questions about fishing that the Field Marshal was attempting to answer but hardly had a chance to before Goku popped out another question.

Between him and Konzen, they attracted quite a few stares crossing the plaza to which Kenren waved regally. Feeling the surrendering slump to Konzen’s shoulders, he let go and was finally able to light a relaxing cigarette. He took a puff and handed it to Tenpou who took it with a smile. “Where are we headed?” He inhaled and handed the butt back. 

“I thought we’d go to that lake off to the southwest. It’s about a fifteen-twenty minute walk from outside the palace grounds.”

“Oh yes. The Shining Crystal Blossom Lake- it’s lovely there but I never have reason to go.”

“Is that what it’s called? Seriously? Anyway yeah – there’s nice fishing and some swimming areas and… Hey Goku! Isn’t that your friend over there under the tree – go get him. Bring him along.”

“Yay! Heeeeeyyyyy Nataku!!!!!” Leaving the basket on the ground, Goku raced off and causing Tenpou to backtrack to retrieve it. The three men made steady progress towards the outer gates, now well used to the commotion that surrounded Goku most of the time. They listened to Goku essentially steamroll the kid into coming. The pair caught up with them just outside the wall and they all headed off down the wide dirt path. 

Goku buzzed around them, looking at flowers, bugs and leaves, bringing some back to show Konzen and have Tenpou answer questions about them. Nataku stayed quiet just walking along wide-eyed at everything and occasionally glancing behind as if he was expecting to be hauled back (poor kid). Eventually Goku got Nataku to relax by straight-up dragging him over to a fruit heavy lychee tree.

“This was a lovely idea you had,” Tenpou leaned over gave Kenren a quick peck on the lips. “It’s entirely too wonderful to be indoors today. The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming…”

“As always ‘cause this is Heaven and nothing changes,” Kenren muttered.

“…A lovely gentle breeze and I’m sure the water will be delightful.”

“And a Monkey stuffing his face,” Kenren snorted looking back over his shoulder seeing that they were leaving the boys behind at the tree. “Goku!! Come on you bottomless pit! We’ve brought all the food you need and I want to get there before the sun sets!!!!”

A couple of minutes later the kids caught up in a flurry of hair, chains and robes. Kenren could only roll his eyes seeing that not only did Goku have a harvest of fruit held by his shirt but that he’d managed to get a grinning Nataku to make a bowl out of his very fancy robes too. They had to dump them into the lunch basket and Konzen gave a half-hearted grumble about stains and dirt but he kept Goku close with a hand on his head as they walked; he listened patiently as Goku expounded on the delights of the fruit. 

As Kenren led them off onto a smaller path, Tenpou struck up a conversation with the young War Prince; they dropped a few paces behind as they got involved in discussing the merits of Heaven’s steel versus the Lower Realm’s steel for weapons. The next fifteen minutes went smoothly as Kenren shepherded his various ducklings along where up ahead the forest trees were beginning to thin. 

Suddenly they emerged from under the last trees onto a wide grassy apron near this portion of the large shimmering lake. Smaller flowering trees dotted the shoreline in clusters as far around as he could see. Goku and Nataku were wide-eyed with astonishment before Goku shouted, “It’s SO PRETTY!!!!!” and grabbed Nataku’s hand as he dragged him toward the water.

“Hold on! Stop before you fall in!” Konzen exclaimed, as about twenty feet from the grassy bank there was a small drop-off to the water.

“Aw, really???” Goku stared in wide-eyed disbelief.

Tenpou chuckled, “Just come help us set up the picnic first and then we’ll see.”

Striding over near the closest copse of trees, Kenren lowered the blanket package off his shoulder. Tenpou knelt and untied it, putting the plates and things aside. Kenren bent over, grabbed the edges and flicked it out flat. Tenpou began unpacking the basket and arranging the food and Kenren glanced up to see Konzen just standing in the sun with his eyes closed and head tipped up. Tenpou followed his look, “He’s very pretty out here isn’t he?”

Kenren looked down at Tenpou and grinned. “Sure is darlin’, but way too grouchy for my taste.” He knelt down and tugged Tenpou into a kiss soft, sweet, warm and interrupted by Goku barreling past chasing a dragonfly. 

Kenren sat down in the grass, and pulled off his boots and big coat then flopped backward, eyes half closed against the bright sky. A wuff of air next to him and he turned his squint sideways to see Tenpou, minus lab coat and tie, also in the grass; before he closed his eyes to take in the sun for a couple of moments. And a couple was all he got when Goku landed in the grass by their heads.

“Wow! Look at all the food!! And you said something about fishing? I’ve never done fishing. Can we keep what we catch? Can we eat what we catch?”

In a quick move, Kenren rolled over and tackled Goku flat getting a big golden eyed stare. “Yes there’s going to be fishing. I have hooks and line in my jacket and maybe you two can go cut us some long flexible poles.” Kenren started running his fingers over the kid’s ribs causing a squeal, “Then we’re gonna fish, maybe catch something, probably swim some and eat.” Goku was giggling and squirming. “If we catch anything we CAN start a fire and roast them – but more likely we’ll take them back and have them later.” Goku was red-faced and breathless and finally managed to shove Kenren off him.

The General rolled with the shove smoothly to his feet, he bent over and pulled a knife from his discarded boot. Flipping the hilt forward he offered it to the boy, “Long and thin no bigger than your wrist at one end and at least as long as both arms out wide; longer is better. Shoo off you both go.” Kenren made pushing motions at them, both surprised and not to see that Nataku had also produced a knife from out of his robes and the boys dashed back towards the forest.

Konzen had come and sat on the blanket during the commotion, investigated the basket and was nibbling at a steamed bun. “Why are we doing this?”

“Because, my dearest paper pusher, we all need a bit of fun. The air around the Palace is SO depressing…” Kenren lit a cigarette and threw his arms wide. “Ah the relaxing is surrounding me!”

Konzen snorted, “Relaxation is ALWAYS surrounding you. And you’re going to burn without your coat.”

Kenren looked at the pale skin of his chest and shrugged, “Not like it’s gonna kill me. Tenpou can cover me in oil later.” He looked over at the man and made eyebrows. Tenpou chuckled as Konzen sighed like it physically pained him. “Are you fishing, your radiance?”

“Tch, might as well. Someone has to keep the kids from drowning.”

Squatting, Kenren dug through his coat for the inner pocket with the fishing gear. He pulled the packet out and settled back next to Tenpou for the rest of his smoke. Just as they’re finishing the butt, ‘cause the damn Field Marshal keeps stealing it, the boys returned dragging what looked like a mini forest behind them.

The chaos was massive for the next half hour. Tenpou also pulled a knife from his boot and they stripped the branches down and trimmed for length. During this Nataku picked up a long whippy, leafy twig and went after Goku with it. Shouting, Goku dove for another branchlet and a massive sword fight ensued until Goku whapped Konzen in the back of the head with his third “sword”. Konzen shot out a hand and grabbed the twig right out of Goku’s grip. With a massive growl he started chasing Goku, swatting at him as he ran laughing around the group of trees.

“Damn Monkey!!! Leave me out of your crazy! And what kind of way to fight is that? Hasn’t anyone showed you decent techniques?” At which point Goku promptly tripped over Nataku who was lying in the grass laughing. Konzen delivered several more leafy whacks before retiring back to the blanket.

“The two of you get over here and have lunch. Clear any stray bits off the blanket before you sit.”

“Everyone’s having so much fun already today. It’s just wonderful!” Tenpou smiled widely at everyone. He handed Konzen a thermos of tea and cups and started laying steamed buns, dumplings, spare ribs, spring rolls, the gathered lychees and assorted vegetables and things on plates. Kenren opened and sniffed the other two thermoses and found that one was more tea and one with the peach blossom wine. He passed the other thermos to Nataku to share with Goku and poured wine for himself and Tenpou. “Leave the desserts in the basket for now eh?” he murmured.

Lunch progressed as expected when being around a bottomless pit. Kenren dueled with his chopsticks over the last dumpling with Goku while Nataku had been easily persuaded to strip down to his inner two layers of robes. Tenpou got led into a discourse about hot air balloons which wandered into a brief side trip about origami and finally after a passing remark from Konzen, a full blown rant about, of all things, popcorn.

Lighting another cig, Kenren reseated himself with the fishing poles and tied various lures to strings and strings to poles until he had five done. He closed up the pouch with the extras and tossed it back on his coat. Holding the cigarette in his left and sticking two fingers of his right hand in his mouth, he blew a sharp whistle.

“The fishing part of this expedition will now commence," he announced in his best General voice. “Present yourself to receive your equipment and then line up over there for your deployment instructions.” He waved a hand off to the side.

Goku shed his boots and shirt, leaped to his feet and was in front of him in one bound, flipping over an empty plate in the process, “Goku reporting!!”

“You are assigned this pole and it’s usage for the day.” Kenren lifted a pole for him and nodded his head to indicate the waiting area.

Nataku was behind him, “I’d like a pole please.”

“Politeness might get you extra instructions but no guarantees,” he handed it over. “Get.” Grinning, Nataku went.

“Might I please have a fishing pole?”

“I’ll give you a fishing pole alright,” he leered at Tenpou, who just laughed and took it out of his hands.

“Don’t even think about it,” Konzen leaned down and grabbed one of the two remaining poles off the ground and headed for the water.

Levering himself off the ground, Kenren grabbed the last pole and stepped over to his recruits. “As you can see, you have lures of various types tied to a fishing line. You should NOT need to add live bait. This is not the best time of day for fishing - that said, who cares? We’re here for fun and actual fish is just a bonus. So! You can see I’ve tied up the line with string to keep it out of the way when you walk.” He leaned down to look Goku in the eye, “This is NOT fly fishing. Do not go whipping the hook around.” Goku saluted – sort of, so Kenren leaned back. “Loose the line, flick the pole to send the lure out from the bank and wait. Let it soak for a minute then start pulling the line back in to you slowly. Coil the line up and do it again. If this is too much trouble I can attach a bobber and you just throw the line out and let it sit there. Pick a space not too close to the person next to you in the hopes of avoiding accidents.”

Kenren stepped back and viewed his motley crew, “Fishing is NOT CATCHING. We are not here to bring a ton of fish back for dinner. Fish for an hour or two and if you get bored you can go swimming.” He waved his pole towards the lake when Konzen had already settled in a spot and had his line in the water, “DISMISSED!!!!” 

Goku and Nataku ran over towards Konzen and then veered off to the right and came to a stop on the bank about ten feet from his guardian, Nataku ran another few feet further on. Tenpou slung an arm around his waist and they meandered together off to the left of Konzen.

Tenpou steered him over to a nice patch of ground under a big flowering tree and in companionable silence, they stood there fishing. After time, Kenren sat down, hanging his feet off the embankment which was just high enough that his feet missed the water by a few inches. 

He glanced over to see how Goku and Nataku were doing. Apparently the Monkey could sit and be still for a while, they were both folded in lotus positions, casting and chatting. He worked a bobber out of his pants pocket. “Konzen,”he called.

He turned and raised an eyebrow and Kenren chucked the little round ball at him. Konzen snagged it out of the air with a smooth grab and attached it to the line a couple of feet from the lure. Casting the line and stabbing the butt end into the ground, Konzen sat down leaning against a tree trunk.

A little while later, “I…I think Goku’s got a bite!” Nataku exclaimed.

“Oh wow! Oh wow! What do I do? Konzen, help!!”

“Way to go Monkey!” Kenren shouted, taking Tenpou’s pole from his hand.

“Congratulations Goku! “ Tenpou strode over there with Konzen joining him.

“Ok now keep calm. Give the line a little jerk to try to set the hook,” Konzen instructed. “Good. Still feel like it’s on there?” Goku nodded, seemingly frozen with excitement. “Ok, give Nataku the pole and start pulling the line in.”

Kenren wandered over to Tenpou to watch as Goku followed directions and started to draw the line like it was made of glass.

Konzen glanced over at Kenren, “We got a net?”

Shrugging sheepishly, Kenren shook his head, “Didn’t bring one. Didn’t really think we’d need it.”

“Tch. Okay then Goku, when it gets close to the bank give a good yank and try to flick the fish up on the grass behind you.”

“I see it! I see it!” Goku shrieked in a whisper. He paused a moment and then in a smooth move flick ed the pole tip up and around and the fish followed like an aquatic kite landing with a flop on the grass. 

“WOW!!!! You did it!” Nataku bounced excitedly.

“Good catch Goku! Looks like a goby. Are you going to keep it or throw it back?” Tenpou asked.

Goku darted over and gently picked up the fish, bobbling it a few times as it squirmed and slipped before getting a firmer grip on it. He looked at it for a long moment, delight all over his face and then turned to Konzen, “I think I’m gonna let it go. Is that ok?”

He put a hand on Goku’s shoulder, “Of course. What ever you want. It’s not like we need it to eat.” He ruffled Goku’s hair, “Get the hook out of it’s mouth then go lay on the bank and lower it into the water. Hold it for a minute as it recovers if you can, if not just let it slip in gently.”

Shortly, Goku was down on the grass half off over the lip with Nataku crouched next to him. “It swam away!!” Goku bounced up. “Let’s catch another one.” Nantaku nodded hard enough that his odd spray of bangs swayed together in a clump.

The next hour brought an unexpected run of bites, including three more for the boys and once for Konzen, all of which were admired and released.

“Wow! Looks like I got one as well!” Tenpou exclaimed, his pole bending some and then quite dramatically.

“Looks like a big one,” Kenren sprawled back on his elbows, feet hanging off the edge again, pole discarded.

Tenpou gave the pole a jerk and then was jerked forward a step in response, “Ooo hoo! A fighter!” He and the fish pulled and tugged at each other for a few minutes, Nataku and Goku having run over to act as a cheering section. “Nataku, if you would, run back and get my tie please?”

The boy sprinted over to the blanket and was back in a short moment. “Hold this firm now, “ Tenpou passed the pole over to him while taking the tie out of his grip. Gripping the skinny end, Tenpou wrapped the cloth around his left hand three times.

“You got this?” Kenren asked lazily.

“Oh yes. Thanks though.” Crouching and reaching out, Tenpou wound the line around his protected left hand as close to the water as he could get and began pulling. “Keep the pole ready in case the line slips.”

“Yes!”

“Goku, I think I’m going to have to ask you to go in and catch it,” Tenpou stood, backing up a couple of steps and wrapped the line a couple of turns as his arm was jerked about. One more long grab and a couple of quick wraps and the fish broke the surface with vigorous splashes.

“Now Goku!”

Slipping off the bank, Goku splashed through the thigh high water and made several grabs at the wriggling fish. He grabbed it around the gills and hefted it out of the water. It was a big carp, almost half Goku’s height, shining and silver, with an angry look in its eye. Stepping forward to the edge, Tenpou started pulling up the slack on the line when the carp gave an almighty thrash, shaking the hook free. It curved itself around in a half circle, slapping its tail solidly into one of Goku’s elbows and breaking his grip. An instant second flap launched it off Goku’s chest in a high arch out towards the center of the lake and knocking Goku on his ass so hard the water completely covered his head. The boy sat up flailing, spitting and laughing. Kenren slipped sideways onto Tenpou’s legs, howling with laughter. Nataku started applauding. 

Tenpou also chuckled, “Well, I guess that one had somewhere else it needed to be.”

With a sigh, Konzen stepped to the edge of the bank and held his hand out to Goku. Pushing his bangs out of his eyes, Goku waded over to the waiting hand. Grasping Konzen’s hand, Goku took one more step forward to be within easy climbing distance. Kenren watched as his leg seemed to disappear into the water. Goku toppled sideways as he hit the unexpected deep spot, going under again, and dragged Konzen into the water with a mighty splash.

Kenren curled into a ball laughing so hard that it was silent, he could feel tears dripping down his flushed cheeks. Tenpou’s barking laughter and the trill of Nataku’s boyish giggles rang out from above. They surfaced simultaneously, Goku’s loud apologies rendering Konzen’s cursing happily unintelligible.

“Young ...ears! Young …ears! Tenpou managed to gasp out between laughs.

Konzen shoved his dripping bangs out of his face and glared furiously at everyone and everything. Kenren drew a great whooping breath and lost it again. Konzen grabbed a floating stick and waved it threateningly at Kenren before he turned to haul himself back onto the grass.

As Konzen retreated to the blanket to dry off and regain his composure . Tenpou had calmed enough to drag Kenren, still chuckling, to his feet. “Well, that’s done it for the fishing. All that noise will drive everything well away from here. So you know what that means?” He looked at Goku still in the water, who shook his head. “Time for swimming!!”

And with that pronouncement and a solid thrust between the shoulder blades, Kenren found himself lurching off the bank. He surfaced from the clear green water and grinned dangerously. “You soaked my cigs. You’re gonna have to pay for that,” and he threw a large wave of water at his partner, then turned and sent a big splash at Goku as well.

The water war that ensued doubled in size when the other two joined in, however it was Goku and Tenpou against Kenren and Nataku. The winning team was undetermined and they spent the next hour or so splashing around and practicing the swimming skills of the boys.

Eventually, tired and pruney, they went back to the blanket for more fruit and dessert while they dried out. Konzen took a comb to Goku’s hair, apparently having used it to redo his ponytail, before handing it to Nataku. Kenren fished a new pack of smokes from his jacket pocket, again giving Tenpou the stink eye, who just laughed. After the food was demolished and the plates packed away as the sun lowered behind the tops of the trees, they deemed themselves dry enough and tired to enough to call it a day.

The trip back was filled with quiet good cheer and after entering the Palace grounds, Nataku hugged the other boy and gave Kenren effusive thanks for the day before making his way towards his family chambers. The setting sun cast his shadow long and dark in the orange light.

At the top of the stairs Konzen paused and said in that slow deep voice of his, “Thanks for the day.” And, after Goku had hugged them both tightly, steered him inside. Kenren paused, looking out over the trees at the sky all oranges and golds with pinks underlining the wispy clouds. A gust of wind blew his coat tails sharply back, scattering flower petals past his feet and when he shifted to look more northeast, heavy dark clouds were massing on the horizon. Kenren lit a cigarette and breathed out a puff, turning he saw Tenpou waiting for him a few feet away and together they went inside.

~End~


End file.
